Rail

Safety glitch stops China’s high-speed rail

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chinese rail authorities told the AFP they plan to stop some high-speed rail services due to scheduling concerns, just as Caixin Century Magazine published claims that a significant safety flaw had been discovered on a bullet train made by a state-owned firm. This news comes on the heels of the July 23 collision of two bullet trains killed at least 40 people and left nearly 200 injured.

The magazine reported that workers found a 0.28-inch-long, 2.4-millimetre-tall crack last month on the axle of a train made by China CNR Corp — a claim the firm promptly denied. For the full story, click here.

This contract includes high voltage cabling from the state grid for the new 16-mile metro line. Alstom is the main supplier of Kochi metro after it has been awarded previous orders for 25 Metropolis trainsets, signalling, telecom and electrification. Commercial service is scheduled to begin in March 2016.

The contract, which is for a ten-year period with the option to extend another 5 years, covers maintenance and spare parts on 74 four-car Class 357 ELECTROSTAR trains and is valued at approximately $213 million.

The train wreck, which occurred in the early morning of March 24, 2014, when the operator allegedly fell asleep, injured more than 30 people and caused roughly $9 million in damage. The lead railcar had to be cut up to remove it from the escalator.